Fire at The Monte Carlo Ranks Among Top 10 Stories of 2008

When the famed Monte Carlo Hotel in Las Vegas caught fire last January, it was deja vu for Sin City who experienced one of the worst hotel fires in history during the 1980's with the MGM Hotel tragedy.

Fortunately, the January blaze that engulfed the Monte Carlo rooftop in Las Vegas back in January was more of an annoyance rather than a major tragedy. Points out Gary Trask of CasinoCity.com

Trask ranked the Monte Carlo hotel fire among his top 10 land-based gambling stories of 2008, coming in at number 5.

Other than the 13 people who were treated for smoke inhalation, there were no injuries as a result of the fire that caused just under $100 million in damage and forced as many as 5,000 guests and 1,000 employees to flee the property.

The story of the fire gained more momentum even after the flames were put out and the hotel reopened. That's because two weeks after the fire, Clark County fire inspectors blamed flying molten metal and a lack of safety measures by construction workers for the fire. Welders working atop the hotel were using a hand-held torch to cut corrugated steel for a rooftop walkway when the hot metal triggered the fire, burning the flammable foam EIFS that was used in the exterior design.

The Monte Carlo Resort and Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA. It is currently owned by MGM Mirage. The hotel offers 3,002 guest rooms, including 259 luxury suites.

The hotel currently has an AAA rating of four diamonds.

Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com